Apache Tomcat on Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)

Updated Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 by Linode

Apache Tomcat is an open source software implementation of the Java Servlet and Java Server Pages technologies. You’ll run applications within Tomcat using the OpenJDK implementation of the Java development environment.

Prerequisites

Before you begin installing and configuring the components described in this guide, please make sure you’ve followed our instructions for setting your hostname. Issue the following commands to make sure it is set properly:

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hostname
hostname -f

The first command should show your short hostname, and the second should show your fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

You should also make sure your system is up to date. Enter the following commands, one by one, and install any available updates:

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apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

Install Apache Tomcat

To install Tomcat, issue the following command:

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apt-get install tomcat6

OpenJDK will be installed as a dependency when you install the tomcat6 package. OpenJDK is pulled in by the default-java meta package in Ubuntu.

You may also want to install the tomcat6-docs, tomcat6-examples, and tomcat6-admin tools which provide web-based applications that document, test, and allow you to administer Tomcat. You can install all three with the following command:

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apt-get install tomcat6-docs tomcat6-examples tomcat6-admin

Tomcat should now be totally functional, following installation and your next system reboot. If you need to start, stop, or restart Tomcat you can use the following commands:

Test and Use Tomcat

You can test your Tomcat installation by pointing your browser at http://[yourdomain-or-ip-address]:8080/. By default, files are located in the /usr/share/tomcat6 directory. To configure the admin area, you’ll need to add the following lines to the end of your tomcat-users.xml file, substituting your own username and password. Make sure you keep the “manager” role.

Issue the following command to restart the Tomcat server, which will allow this change to take effect:

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/etc/init.d/tomcat6 restart

Congratulations! You know have a working Apache Tomcat installation.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.